Judge reduces drugmaker’s opioid settlement by $107M

OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma judge who last summer ordered consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million to help address the state’s opioid crisis on Friday reduced that amount in his final order in the case by $107 million because of his miscalculation.

District Judge Thad Balkman’s latest order directs the company to pay the state $465 million. In it, Balkman acknowledged that he miscalculated in his original award how much it would cost to develop a program for treating babies born dependent on opioids. The cost should have been $107,000 not $107 million.

Oklahoma’s case against opioid drugmakers is the first state opioid case to make it to trial and could help shape negotiations over more than 2,000 similar lawsuits.